


How To Train Your Human

by Mah_cat_typed_this



Category: Amphibia (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anne is a good town protector, Chimkens, Crying, Everyone Needs A Hug, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Frogs, Gen, Hop Pop is tired, Humans Are Weird, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rating May Change, Siblings, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:33:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25251673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mah_cat_typed_this/pseuds/Mah_cat_typed_this
Summary: Humans were strange creatures, that had become obvious to the frogs the longer Anne lived with them.Everything about them was so strange and it certainly required Wartwood some getting used to, but despite all their differences, they would still not have it any other way.(I am basing these on actual human and amphibian facts, but since cartoons don't follow rules some of these might not be cannon! Thank you for understanding <3)
Comments: 31
Kudos: 223





	1. Chimkens

**Author's Note:**

> I dedicate this chapter to a very good ol' friend of mine, who loves fluff and the found family trope.
> 
> This will be the Plantars and the town getting used to Anne's human-ness. I have quite a few chapters planned out, but I'm not sure how many this work will have.
> 
> In this episode: how many ways can I misspell "chicken" in a single chapter?

_An **omnivore** is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Often, they have the ability to incorporate food sources such as algae, fungi, and bacteria into their diet._

_Examples of omnivores: American crow, dogs, humans, pigs, walking catfish._

_Being omnivores gives these animals more food security in stressful times or makes possible living in less consistent environments._

* * *

Humans were strange creatures, they had discovered.

When the Plantars had first taken the young girl in, the differences between them couldn't be anymore obvious, she was nearly three times their size, yet could only jump a few centimeters off the ground; her tongue was small and weak; she was the strongest out of them all and at the end of her five fingers, were small yet surprisingly sharp claws; she had a weird bump on her face and her eyes had a strange shape; and those aren't even all of her oddities.

No one could blame the town for being on edge, nor Hop Pop for being constantly on watch for any signals of aggressiveness. Polly was ready to fight if the "beast" even so much as breathed in a little odd, but the oldest frog wanted to give them a chance, Sprig was quite attached to them, after all. And he was glad he did, the once terrifying monster turned out to be a scared, lost young girl who just wanted to find her friends and go back home. Anne turned their lives upside down in every aspect, there was no longer a single boring day with her around, add Sprig and Polly into the mix and you get a power trio that goes through wacky adventures daily, they even found a secret chamber inside their own home! Not even Hop Pop knew about that one and he's been living at that house longer than they've been alive.

One of the many changes they had to go through was the food, and not just the obvious "another mouth to feed" dilemma.

During the meals, it wasn't uncommon for Anne's plate to be big enough to feed both Sprig and Polly and possibly with leftovers. Hop Pop found it amazing how someone so picky could eat so much, in the first few days the girl barely managed to eat a small portion of crickets before being too disgusted to force anything else down, as the days passed, hunger eventually won over disgust and now she would try nearly anything that was offered to her. That was supposed to be good, right? Yet any relief from her having other items in her menu other than crickets and mushrooms was turned into concern, how would they afford to get enough food on the table to satisfy everyone?

It's not that Hop Pop was unwilling to spend more, and especially if it came to food, but just the sheer amount that she ate could probably sustain an entire family. She would eat a very large plate during their daily meals, then get a snack every thirty minutes or so, and without counting her "desserts" as she called it. And she'd often come to the old frog holding a bug, plant, egg or whatever she had found and ask "hey, can we eat these?" or "how do you cook these?"

Thankfully she was more than happy to go into the forest and fill a basket of fruits, roots, vegetables and mushrooms and whatever else, and even then she usually finished the whole thing within a single meal. At first, he had just brushed it off for her size, she was so much larger than a frog, so it'd make sense she'd eat more, but then he just came to the conclusion humans had an absurdly fast metabolism.

The older frog hummed as he scribbled down on a small notebook. A frog diet usually made up of various types of insects, but Anne was a completely different matter, despite her being as much part of the family as any of them, they couldn't forget that she _wasn't a frog._ For them to give her the best, they'd need to keep in mind the needs of a human being, treating her as if she were a frog would be asking for trouble, and most likely a very sick Anne 

**_Can eat:_ **

**_Crickets_ **

**_Beetles_ **

**_Praying mantis_ **

**_Grasshoppers_ **

**_Eggs_ **

**_Tomatoes_ **

**_White mushroom_ **

**_Brown mushroom_ **

**_Roots_ **

**_Wild berries_ **

**_Herbs_ **

**_Peppers_ **

**_Pumpkins_ **

**_Mudskippers_ **

**_Squid_ **

There were some drawings and pictures of the items for a reference, as well as some annotations written beside them. He looked up as the door creaked open, Anne entered the living room while snacking on a plate of centipedes she had recently fried for herself, without much thought, he added **_centipede_ ** to the ever growing list of foods Anne had liked or at least tolerated. 

**_Can't eat:_ **

**_Caterpillars_ **

**_Spotted mushroom_ **

**_Larvae_ **

**_Flies_ **

**_Grubhogs_ **

**_Green wild berries_ **

**_Pineapple_ **

**_Eggs that smell weird_ **

**_Anything with slime_ **

And that was a list that he'd have to watch very carefully and make sure not to give her anything in there by accident. Those usually ended up with either an uneaten plate or a very bad stomach ache, sometimes even worse. He still couldn't understand how could anyone in their sane mind could hate flies as much as she did, flies were most frogs favourite food, yet she would rather nearly starve to death before even considering putting one in her mouth.

Humans were strange… Hop Pop gave the book one last read before closing the notepad, to ensure her health, they'd need to keep track of everything they could so they could better care of her needs and-

"Hey, HP! Whatcha reading?" 

Hop Pop yelped as he hid the small book away from the girl's curious eyes. Anne tilted her head and gave him a questioning look.

"O-Oh! Anne! Uh...it's ..a...just an old boring book I found, nothing to see here!"

"If you like it so much, why do you say it's boring?" She looked even more suspicious than before. He knew that look, she knew he was hiding something and she would be willing to go great lengths to find out what it was. He needed to think of something fast, what was something that could ward off a curious Anne…

"Well… if yew wanna to know so much…" he started, keeping himself from smiling as her expression lit up with anticipation.

"I'm writing down all of the farm's income and expenses! Keeping track of money is _very_ important as you know. Would you like to help me make the math if you're so interested?" 

Anne's smile immediately vanished and gave place to a horrified expression. Keeping the amused laughter at bay was becoming harder and harder.

"W-What?!"

"Yes! In fact, why don't ya take a seat and-"

"No! I- uh...I mean...is- is that Sprig calling me? Oh no he sounds like he's in trouble…" Anne chuckled nervously as she not so subtly made her way towards the door. "Don't worry Sprig, I'm coming!" She pretended to shout as she ran out and slammed the door closed in a hurry.

Hopadiah chuckled at her antics and walked towards his room to put his "tax book" back to its place. He wasn't sure if Anne would appreciate having every single habit of hers noted down, one thing was asking her if something was toxic for humans or not, keeping a book like that one was a completely different matter. It was common for each species to have something like that, even the amphibians themselves, but nowadays it was usually dedicated to keeping track of different animals and creatures that may or may not be dangerous, and being called and treated like a monster was something Anne still felt sore about, and for that Hop Pop couldn't blame her, he'd have felt the same. He might just be acting way too paranoid again, but he didn't want to risk Anne feeling upset or uncomfortable.

Humming a familiar tune, he innocently walked out through the backdoor, it was almost time to feed old Bessie and the chores around the farm would not do themselves, and the children wouldn't do them without motivation either. Oh, what would this family be without good old Hopadiah?

It was hours later that he finally saw the two older Plantar children coming home from their latest adventure after finishing everything at the farm. The two chatted as they walked back home and dusted their clothes off and picked some of the foliage off their hair in Anne's case.

"Are you _absolutely_ sure you don't have anything like that? At all? Like, not even some weird and gross counterpart?" The girl's voice sounded quite urgent as she pleaded.

"Uh, not that I know of, no…sorry, Anne." Sprig answered as he took a thoughtful expression, like he was trying to remember something, but apparently his efforts were in vain.

He had a small worried frown on his face as the human let out a mixture of a groan and a whimper, looking down in defeat and most likely cursing being stuck in this world. Well, that was strange, the duo usually always came back home brimming with excitement, eager to tell them what new dangers they had faced and how close they were to death this time.

"Great, what are these two whining about now?" Polly muttered as she glared at the two from her bucket.

"Polly, don't be rude." He scolded. In reality, the young tadpole wanted nothing more than be able to join her brother and friend in whatever trouble they had gotten themselves into, but no matter how strong and capable Polly might be, she was still a baby, she didn't even have her legs yet, how would she run away from a predator if things came to worse? And that's not even counting the fact that carrying a bucket around could possibly slow the other two down and give a monster enough time to strike, and also-

"Hey, Hop Pop! Do we have any...eh..chi...chickens in Wartwood?"

"Chi what?" 

"Chickens! They're like...this big, they have feathers and a small beak." Anne put enough space between her hands to fit a medium sized chicken, any hope she might have had were crushed as the oldest frog shook his head after a moment of thought.

"I don't think we do, girl." He frowned at her defeated expression.

"What do you need these "chi-kens" for anyway?" Polly raised a brow in confusion.

"I...uh, I was craving chicken wings…" Anne rubbed the back of her head as she averted her gaze from the family, kicking the dirt with her only shoe. Hop Pop considered buying the girl a new pair, but finding a size that fit her would be a bit difficult.

"So you eat these? How do they taste like?" Sprig questioned with a curious smile.

"Oh, they taste _amazing!"_ Anne threw her arms up in joy as she began a detailed description of how delicious these alien creatures were when cooked, even the frogs themselves were getting a little hungry. 

Although despite Sprig and Polly's wide eyes and drooling mouths, Hop Pop had found himself frowning in concern, humans sure had a much broader diet than frogs did, that was obvious enough. He would never have considered roots of all things could be food for any species out there, and yet Anne had added them to her meals because it "tasted like potatoes" or so she had claimed. Mushrooms and berries were easier to understand, but still weren't something you would find in a frogs plate very often. The human world was bound to have many different foods that would be absent in theirs, what if these "chimkens" had some nutrient that humans needed? What if Anne was dying right now and these cravings were her body pleading for– no, no, he was overreacting again. Anne was fine, surely she wouldn't hide if something was wrong, right?

…

Maybe it would be wise to ask anyway, even if just to put his mind at ease. He cleared his throat, successfully gaining the attention of the three.

"Uh…Anne, do these–" He was interrupted by a sudden, high pitched scream.

The family froze in place as many other screams followed and a loud screech pierced through their ears. Many frogs were running for their lives as a gigantic bird chased after them, red eyes showed nothing but hunger as it nearly impaled a poor frog with its sharp beak. Stands were abandoned, doors were slammed shut and the remaining townsfolk scattered throughout town desperately looking for somewhere to hide from the beast's merciless claws and beak. Even then, the only semblance of safety they had were the houses and shops, and those were priced not able to stop the bird's rampage, it could completely demolish buildings if it wanted to.

"Kids, go back inside right now!" Hop Pop's urgent command was followed by more screaming as the bird tore off a house's windows and tried to fit its beak through the narrow opening, trying to get the delicious prey that hid inside it.

"What?!" Polly glared between her grandfather and the rampaging creature. "I say we go kick that thing's butt! We faced much worse anyway! I'll make a pillow outta that thing!" The young tadpole growled as she pulled out her trusty "Doris". Unlike his sister, Sprig wasn't all that enthusiastic about facing a giant frog devouring bird, but he knew he would spring into action if it was necessary.

"All of you, inside, right now–" 

Once again, something interrupted his words, but that time was the sound of their door slamming closed. Anne silently walked out of the house and towards the battlefield that was once their town, her sword clutched tightly in her hand as she marched to battle, her hair covered her eyes as her head was lowered, she resembled a warrior ready for battle.

"Anne?! What are ya doing, girl?"

"Are you gonna fight?"

"Let me join!"

They were promptly ignored by her, she planted her foot firmly on the ground and like it was sensing the challenge, the creature raised its head and glared at the human girl, feathers bristled as it screeched and stomped the ground in warning. 

"Tonight…"

Anne raised her head, they could swear her eyes and sword were glowing blue.

**_"We dine like kings."_ **

* * *

Remember when he said humans were strange creatures? Scratch that, Mother Nature was drunk out of her mind when she made these.

They watched with mouths hanging open as Anne stirred a frying pan with three pieces of meat cooking inside it, humming a cheerful song as she seasoned her hard earned dinner. Beside her were several pots filled to the brim with meat that awaited their turn to be transformed into a dish that was truly worthy of royalty. 

Hop Pop stole a glance at the pile of bones that was once a rampaging monster trying to tear them apart, the other frogs had crawled out of their hiding places and came to investigate, some were posing in front of the carcass, others poking it curiously. Mrs. Croaker held Archie in her arms as the little spider growled at the remains, Loggle preferred to stand away from it for the time being, while Wally kicked the bones, laughing victoriously. That was all that was left of it: a pile of bones and feathers. Hopadiah almost felt pity for it... almost. Turns out the creature's wings were far too large to be cooked in the way Anne had intended, but that didn't stop her from satisfying her hunger.

"It's ready!" Anne walked out holding a plate of the bird's wings sliced into smaller pieces. The townsfolk stared at it in awe, Anne was more than glad to present them the greatness of her cooking until Wally had attempted to reach out to it, he could swear he heard her growl as she swatted his webbed hands away. 

"I told you I'd make a pillow outta this thing!" Polly exclaimed as she dragged her water bucket towards them, on her flippers was, indeed, a pillow, white and brown feathers could be seen poking out of certain places, but otherwise it looked very comfortable.

As everyone's attention was on Polly, Anne took the opportunity to walk away to enjoy her "xicken wings" without being disturbed. Hop Pop and Sprig almost flinched as she sank her teeth into it, not bothering to pick a knife and a fork. Polly seemed to approve, if her smile was anything to go by.

"Hey, Pop, can we try one of these?" Sprig looked up, giving him the "pleading puppy eyes".

"Well…" the oldest Plantar hesitated, watching the human quite literally squeal in glee as she devoured the entire plate. She was having her fill at the moment but she would happily cook them some more if they asked for it. It did smell delicious, but he wasn't sure if that would settle in a frog's stomach the same way it did for her.

"What? Are you all really not worried about this?!" Mayor Toadstool questioned suddenly, gesturing at the human who was still eating, oblivious to the commotion.

"Can you see what's right in front of your eyes? She fought, killed, and is now _devouring_ a gigantic beast that almost destroyed this town just an hour ago!" The Mayor stated, holding a piece of a broken bone where Anne's sword had pierced as if to prove his point. 

"Yes, I agree." Toadie nodded, arms crossed in a gesture of confidence.

"If she is able to effortlessly take down something like this, we could very well be next. When she next craves meat, will we be lucky enough to have another monster around to satisfy her? As much as she's been living well here with us so far, we can't forget that she's human and-"

"Wooo! We got a'bird devourer!" One eyed Wally cheered, hopping in glee. Noticing the town's confused stares, he gladly explained his train of thought.

"We ain't ever have to deal with the birds again! Just feed 'em to Anne!" A chorus of excited agreements followed suit, which soon turned into cheers.

"Wait, no!"

"Cheers for the town protector!"

Anne perked up, confused as for why the entire town was suddenly singing praises to her like that, sure she got rid of the bird, but they were acting more like she had freed them from an eternal evil. No one seemed to notice as Wartwood's mayor groaned and facepalmed while Toadie awkwardly patted his back when he wasn't sure what to do.

Sprig and Polly shared a confused look, then Polly suddenly perked up and let out a mischievous chuckle.

"Oh, I know this look," Sprig tilted his head and knelt down to Polly's level, smiling almost as large as hers. "what's the plan?"

Polly began whispering something to her brother, his smile growing even larger as she explained her newly crafted evil plan. By the time she was done, both were barely able to contain their laughter.

"She's a Plantar, everyone!" Sprig shouted, carrying Polly's water bucket towards the crowd.

"Banchuy who? She's "Bird Eatin' Anne Plantar!"" It was Polly's turn to shout, splashing into the water. Both frogs were bursting with laughter as they saw poor Anne's mortified expression, not even her covering her face with her hands could hide the tomato red color her face had become. The townsfolk laughed and cheered as the two siblings continued to embarrass the poor soul. Once Sprig had hopped a little too close, Anne wasted no time to reach out and grab his outstretched arm, pulling towards her as the young boy yelped and trashed in vain against her iron grip, almost dropping Polly's bucket on the ground. Anne pulled Sprig to her lap, tossed away his headgear and gave him a well deserved noogie on his head.

"Hey! Nooo!" The young frog laughed as he tried to wiggle his way out of her grasp.

Polly leaped out of her bucket and towards freedom, laughing maniacally as she jumped away from Anne's grasp, or so she thought, turns out a tiny bucket doesn't give you a lot of space to build up a jump. The human barely made any effort to grab the pink tadpole by her tail and drag her to join her brother.

"And it's "Boonchuy", you horrible little thing!" Sprig bent over with laughter as his sister yelped, pretending to bite Anne's hand as the two wrestled. The townsfolk either laughed or cooed, found smiles on their faces as they watched the trio interact and play.

Hop Pop sighed, rubbing his temples, although he still couldn't hide the smile on his face. These kids would be the death of him, that was certain.

He would have to add "giant birds" to his list when they got home.

  
  



	2. Personal heater Anne (who can't see in the dark)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a hard night out, Anne takes on the job of being the frog's personal heater.
> 
> Also Bessie deserves the world.

_The night vision of frogs and toads is very powerful, they have the ability to distinguish color even in extreme darkness._

_Warm-blooded are those animal species which can maintain a body temperature higher than their environment. In particular, homeothermic species maintain a stable body temperature by regulating metabolic processes._

* * *

_This isn't looking good…_

Hopadiah took a deep steady breath, attempting to get rid of, or at least soothe the ever growing paranoia in the back of his mind. This was supposed to be a slightly chilly night with a chance of rain, but the lights of the sunset were obscured by dark gray clouds and the branches and leaves from the trees rustled with the cold winds. Spring just started and the shifting between seasons was always slightly chaotic, but why couldn't it have rained yesterday when they were safe at a warm and cozy truck stop? 

For a brief moment, a bright flash lit up the sky, being followed by the mighty roar of a thunder. Bessie let out a startled yelp, halting their steady march forward and attempting to turn back, thankfully the old frog was experienced with situations like that and was able to quickly soothe their beloved snail. 

"You're right, old girl...there's no way we can continue on with the weather like this…" he shivered as the winds started to pick up the pace. 

_It's okay, it's just some bad weather, we can handle this._

"Hey, uhm, Hop Pop?" Sprig called, a slightly concerned tone in his usual cheerful voice. Almost immediately, the young frog flinched away from the sudden drop in the temperature and back into the warmer fwagon. "W...why is it so cold? What's going- is that a storm?!"

"... I'm afraid so, boy." 

"Shouldn't spring be, you know... _warm-ish?!"_ Polly's enraged shout startled them both. The pink tadpole was wrapped in her favorite blanket, desperately trying to keep whatever warmth was left in her body from being stolen by the cold.

"Mother nature is unpredictable, Polly. Just when we think we have it all figured out, it puts us back to our place… and judging by these clouds, we might have to stop for the night."

Anne peeked out from behind the frog siblings, squinting her eyes as if trying to make out her surroundings. 

"But where? There's no truck stop around here."

"Uhm… maybe in a cave? Or under those really large trees?" Sprig pointed towards a few rather large trees with dense red colored foliage, perhaps it could partially shield them from the quickly approaching rain, but a cave was still a preferable option.

The frogs pondered their options, suggesting and pointing out several places they could take shelter in. Anne was… trying her best, but no matter how much she squinted and forced her eyes to focus, she couldn't see anything other than vague silhouettes and a few shades of gray and black. The trees Sprig pointed out were completely hidden in the shadows, she could only see the outline of their foliage where they towered over the other trees, the roots of a tree that formed a small den that Polly so easily spotted, were completely invisible to her. Looking up, she noticed whatever light from the moon was blocked out by the dark clouds, covering the land in pure darkness. Yet the three frogs appeared to be completely unbothered by the blinding darkness, observing their surroundings as if they were in a bright sunny day.

"What do you see, Anne? Anywhere we could stay?" She met Sprig's expectant gaze, the light from inside the wagon allowed her to at least see her family well enough.

"Uh….not really…." Her eyes were starting to hurt from how much effort she was making, unfortunately it was all in vain. She groaned in defeat. "It's too dark!"

"Yeah, it's dark alright, it means it'll probably rain a lot." Hop Pop nodded, misunderstanding the reason for her frustration. 

The human let out a tired sigh, leaning her head against her hand. The frogs having a much better night vision that herself was to be expected, she was honestly surprised she hadn't been faced with that problem too often in these past few months, only when they were exploring a dark cave or out during the night, and even then she could see _something._

_Oh!_

She perked up slightly, her lips curving in a slight smile as she climbed down and searched through her things, picking up her phone.

"Hey! Anne, we need all the help we can get here!" Polly's voice called for her.

"Anne, stop running away from potentially life saving decisions." Hop Pop scolded.

"I'm coming, y'all!" She joined the frog trio once again, this time with her trusty phone in hand. With a single tap on the screen, a beam of light revealed the things that were hidden by the darkness, silhouettes became actual trees, rocks and bushes, finally her eyes were of some use.

"Ow!" 

Sprig's pained yelp startled them all, the cheerful frog turned his head away from the older girl, rubbing his eyes.

"What happened?!"

"Uh... Sprig?"

"You okay, man?" 

"Y...yeah...I was just looking at your phone at the wrong time." He laughed a bit, offering his family a sheepish smile and opening his eyes to show there was no damage done, they were a little unfocused, but otherwise just fine.

"Anne, stop hurting Sprig's eyes with that technological contraption of yours!" The older frog shooted Bessie when another loud thunder startled the snail. They needed to find shelter soon before it actually started to rain and the temperatures dropped any further. It wouldn't be enough to freeze any of them, but it could still cause problems with their health, it wasn't uncommon for a constant chill to end up being even worse than an abrupt hibernation inducing cold. And that wasn't even counting the possibility of rain destroying their supplies.

"It wasn't my- ah, forget it." She moved her phone's lantern away from the frogs, pointing it to the forest in search of something that could be used as shelter.

"Why do you need that thing anyway?" Polly questioned, raising a brow at the human's antics.

"I can't see in the dark like you guys…" Anne stated, slightly exasperated. "I thought you knew that?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think it was _that_ bad." Anne glared towards the young tadpole, who simply shrugged, chuckling slightly to herself. Sprig's eyes fully recovered from the light and he turned towards the girls with a curious smile.

"What about that boulder over there? Can you see it without your phone?" 

Anne's gaze followed to where he was pointing towards, nothing but a sea of darkness greeted her eyes, she could only see a few feet away from the fwagon, where the lights inside it illuminated the path. 

"Nope." She pointed her phone towards it. "Now I can."

"Is this a human thing?" Polly climbed on her shoulders, turning the girl's head towards her at Anne's permission. She had never really paid attention to Anne's eyes before, they were weird looking and different from a frog's, that was obvious enough, but she didn't think anyone ever took a close look at them. More white part, less color part, she noted. Her pupils were dilated as far as they went, struggling to see in the low light, it made her usually bright brown irises look nothing more than a small ring around it. She looked kind of funny when Polly thought about it.

"Oh! Oh! How about that weird tree trunk over there? It even looks like it has eyes!" Sprig poked her other shoulder, gesturing to the object in question. Anne, as expected, could barely see the outline of it.

"No, Sprig," she brought her phone up, "I need light to-" 

The "trunk" hissed loudly, what appeared to be dead branches curved to cover its face as it turned away from the bright light. They let out startled shouts as the creature dropped it's disguise, revealing six legs and a pair of sharp razor-like fangs, a carapace shaped like a dead tree and dried branches covered its entire body.

Bessie didn't need to be told to run, before they knew it, they were going full speed ahead. Hop Pop barely had time to guide the snail as to avoid hitting some rocks and potholes along the worn out road, but even his many years of snail riding weren't able to avoid every single obstacle. The fwagon shook as they ran straight over a small rock, the siblings held on for dear life, Anne held on to Polly as she was thrown from her shoulders, using her other hand to hold onto the wagon. 

_Wait._

She could swear her heart stopped as her phone slipped from her hands, time passed painfully slowly as she tossed Polly to Sprig and reached out for the falling object. She was only alive today thanks to her phone, she couldn't imagine what she'd do if she were lost in an unknown dark place without her flashlight, nor what she'd use as an audio lure to attract prey (her and Sprig's new personalized hunting method!). And that's not accounting for her memories, her pictures, the videos she had of herself and her family, her past text messages, her favorite songs… 

She couldn't lose all of that. 

The tip of her fingers held onto the device before it hit the ground, she pulled it against her chest. 

"Anne!"

Sprig's hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling her back up. Anne let out a relieved breath as she embraced the two younger children, her phone safe in her grasp.

"Anne! Stop risking your life for the eye hurting technological contraption!" Hop Pop scolded again, looking back at the old forest path, letting his shoulders drop in relief when there were no signs of any bloodthirsty bugs disguised as trees chasing them. This could have ended so very badly, he just hoped they haven't spent all their luck for the night.

Thankfully, they had kept some luck spare since the last time they had almost died while on the road. A cave large enough to fit all of them, plus Bessie and the fwagon, was spotted by Polly. Just in time for the storm, the cold rain droplets were beginning to fall from the sky and the thunders were more and more frequent. And the best part is that they didn't even have to fight another giant monster to gain access to it!

Anne wrapped her arms around her knees, her body shivering as a cold breeze blew past them. It really was getting colder, no wonder the frogs were in such a hurry to find shelter.

"Uh… Anne?...why are you doing that?" 

She looked down, meeting Polly's curious eyes. 

"...what?"

"Why are you vibrating? Are you hurt? Your skin is all bumpy too."

She wasn't really paying attention, but now that she mentioned it, she really was trembling quite a bit. Nothing unusual, it was getting chilly, afterall.

" _Pfft_ , you look funny when you do that!" Sprig covered his mouth, stifling a laugh. "Why are you doing that, though?"

"What are you kiddos on and on about?" The old frog was currently wrapping Bessie with some of their blankets, forming a giant and warm-ish snail blanket burrito. Bessie let out a satisfied squeal, snuggling into her cozy cocoon. It was only fair when good old Bessie had brought them so far, into sun or snow, forests or deserts. She deserved a good rest.

"Guys, really it's fine…"

"Hop Pop! Anne's vibrating!" Sprig called out as another particularly cold wind sent another wave of shivers through her spine.

"Anne! Stop vibrating!" He patted Bessie's head then went inside the fwagon to get some supplies for starting the fire.

"Oh my god!" Anne exclaimed, glaring at the old frog's back as he went back inside. She crossed her arms, hiding her annoyed frown behind her knees. She couldn't blame Hop Pop, he must be so tired at this point, but it didn't mean she wasn't annoyed.

"Is this also a human thing?" Polly's voice was a little softer than before, she seemed genuinely interested in the older girl's odd behavior.

"... Yeah, we shiver when we're cold, I think most mammals do, actually." Anne responded.

"That's kinda cool! What is for? Your fur is all bristled too." Sprig poked her skin, a curious smile on his face.

Anne didn't mind answering their questions, in fact, she was about to pass on whatever knowledge she had about the subject until the boy's words registered in her mind.

"I- it's not fur, Sprig!"

"I'm pretty sure it is. Look, usually you don't see it, but now you're all fluffy! It's all over your body!" 

Anne pulled her arm away from his hands, sending an indignant glare to the cheerful frog, who was either oblivious to it, or simply didn't care. Polly showed a confused expression, if not slightly amused at her exasperation. They didn't mean anything bad, they're probably just curious.

"Guys, listen, you don't just-" 

"Okay, kids! Fire is ready!" 

Hopadiah stood beside the newly created bonfire, smiling as Sprig and Polly ran towards it as fast as they possibly could, letting out relieved breaths as they soaked in the comforting warmth, rolling themselves in their respective blankets. Anne followed them, albeit much slower and calmer. Yes, it was one of the coldest nights they had since spring started, but it wasn't an excruciating, numbing cold. 

Oh well, frogs were rather sensitive to cold temperatures, so maybe what she considered a tolerable chill could be potentially dangerous for them.

"And, Anne? I'm sorry for how I acted earlier…" Hop Pop sat down beside them, picking a blanket and passing it to the human girl. "I'm just so tired, I'm not thinking straight… it's not an excuse, but-"

"No, no! It's okay, HP. Don't worry about it." Anne offered him a hopefully reassuring smile, wrapping herself in her blanket. He returned with a thankful smile of his own.

"Ugh... I'm still cold!" Polly groaned, scooting closer to the fire. Hopadiah promptly pushed her away from the flames and back into a safe distance. Sprig curled up, adjusting his blanket around himself, letting out a faint whimper. 

"I know, Polly, but if you get any closer to the fire, you're getting burned." He was trying to keep his voice from showing how tired and sluggish he felt, the last thing he wanted was for the kids to feel worried about him. 

Anne's smile faded away as she watched them, her heart weighted as guilt settled in, a painful reminder that this kind, hospitable little family was suffering because of her. Whenever these thoughts gnawed at her mind, she tried to recall Hop Pop's words before they took on this trip, it usually helped send the unwanted thoughts back into their cage, but the longer they were on the road, the harder it was to fight against the creeping guilt.

_It's your fault._

_No, it isn't…_

She let out a faint gasp as an idea crossed her mind, how did she not think of this before? 

"Guys, hey, come here!" Anne reached out, smiling.

"Uh? What for?" Sprig looked up, scooting a little closer to her. Anne pulled him into what appeared to be a hug at first glance, wrapping both of them with her blanket. Sprig didn't quite understand at first, but gladly accepted what he thought was a simple hug. It took a few seconds for Sprig to break their embrace, looking up at Anne with shock and wonder in his eyes.

"You're warm..." 

She smiled, nodding as he leaned against her, wrapping his arms around his knees. Hop Pop and Polly shared a confused glance as the odd scene took place. The pink tadpole was the first to move, hopping towards the duo.

"What's going on?"

"Anne's warm! Like the bonfire!" Sprig exclaimed, earning an amused chuckle from the girl.

Now Polly was interested, climbing onto her lap, allowing her to lean against her belly. Much like Sprig, it took a couple of seconds for Polly to start to feel the soft heat emanating from her body.

"What is this sorcery?!"

"I thought you guys knew I was warm blooded?" Anne raised a brow as she adjusted herself to sit more comfortably when Hop Pop also sat down beside her, allowing her to wrap her blanket around all of them. They laughed as Bessie sneakily made her way towards them, allowing Anne to lean her back against the snail, who gladly took the chance to get more warmth.

"I just thought it meant you can't freeze!" Polly and Hop Pop nodded in agreement.

"Well... it doesn't necessarily mean I _can't_ freeze, just that I make my own heat." 

"Well, it's a very convenient trait to have regardless." 

"I… guess so. Perks of being human, hehe." Anne chuckled, half expecting her family to go on about all the advantages of being frogs, but they appeared to ignore her words. She smiled as her favorite violin playing frog yawned, his eyelids beginning to drop.

"You humans are weird… a good kinda weird." Were the last words he spoke before falling into a peaceful slumber. 

She was about to follow them into the land of dreams when a particular thought pulled her mind back into consciousness. It was not the guilt related ones she was accustomed to, but rather Sprig's words earlier that night. She had completely dismissed it before, and even got a little offended, but now that she thought about it… 

Anne brought one of her hands up, observing the barely visible hairs on her forearm. It was there, just like every other human being, she just never really paid attention to it, there was no reason to. That was hair, just like she had on her head, definitely not fur. No matter how much she assured herself that, she still couldn't shoo away the questions. Was there a physical difference between these and the fur on the creatures they found in the forest? Was that definition actually scientific? What was the difference?

She found herself wide awake, staring intently at her own arm as her family slept peacefully against her. This was going to be a looooong night.

* * *

**_Humans are terrible at seeing in the dark, and they start to shake when it's cold. They are always warm and cozy, no matter how cold it is outside!_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There actually isn't any difference between human hair and the other mammals' fur. It's basically the same thing, only with a name change.
> 
> In other words: we have floof.


End file.
